Post-hydration method and apparatus for transporting, inspecting and packaging contact lenses

A post post-hydration method of transporting, inspecting, and sealing contact lens elements in corresponding packaging elements, comprising the steps of:

• injecting deionized water into the packaging elements;
• inserting the contact lens elements into said packaging elements, thereby forming a set of lens-package elements;
• inspecting the contact lens elements to determine whether the contact lens elements are optically correct or if they are not optically correct;
• extracting the deionized water from the lens-package elements;
• separating the optically correct contact lens elements from those which are not optically correct;
• injecting saline solution into said lens-package elements containing optically correct contact elements;
• heat sealing a foil wrapper to the saline solution filled lens-package elements and
• extracting the contact lens elements from a hydration pallet having a relative spatial distribution before inserting the contact lens elements into said packaging elements, wherein the relative spatial distribution of the contact lens elements is changed before inserting the contact lens elements into said packaging elements;
• the step of extracting the contact lens elements comprises ejecting a quantity of air from beneath each contact lens element to propel it onto a lens carrying means.

A post-hydration apparatus for transporting, inspecting, and sealing contact lens elements in corresponding packaging elements, comprising:

• A. a deionized water injection assembly which injects deionized water into the packaging elements;
• B. a lens transfer assembly which receives the contact lens elements from a lens pallet at a first location, alters the spatial relationship of the lenses, transports the lenses to a second location, and deposits the lenses into said packaging elements thereby forming a set of lens-package elements, said lens transfer assembly comprising;
• 1. a set of horizontal guide rails;
• 2. a plurality of beam elements, slidably mounted in parallel on at least one of said of horizontal guide rails;
• 3. a reciprocating means coupled to said beam elements for reciprocating same along said guide rails with respect to one another;
• 4. a plurality of finger elements disposed in a linear array, extending downwardly from at least one of said beam elements, each of said finger elements comprising:
• a. a mounting bracket,
• b. an elongate shaft, having an upper and lower end,
• c. a lens transfer surface at the lower end of the shaft for receiving, and securely holding, thereon at least one of said contact lens elements,
• d. a slotted annular skirt disposed along the shaft adjacent to said lens transfer surface, for maintaining the contact lens at a predetermined position;
• and
• e. a translation mechanism for reciprocating said mounting bracket in at least one direction;
• C. a deionized water extraction assembly for removing the deionized water from the lens-package elements;
• D. a lens-package transport assembly for transporting the lens-package elements to a packaging station;
• and
• E. a saline solution injector and foil sealing assembly positioned to receive the lens-package elements and to inject therein a quantity of saline solution, and to heat seal a foil label to a top surface of the lens-package elements.